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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29611533">The Way to a Man's Heart is Through His Stomach - red_camellia - Haikyuu!! [Archive of Our Own]</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/red_camellia/pseuds/red_camellia'>red_camellia</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Haikyuu!!</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Teachers, Fluff, Getting Together, M/M, Pining, Romance, SakuAtsu, Valentine's Day, general stupidity</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-15 16:42:22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>8,737</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29611533</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/red_camellia/pseuds/red_camellia</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
        <p>I hope you enjoyed this! It was a real challenge for me to write something fluff-only. I hope the little pining moments and misunderstandings weren't too angsty~</p>
      </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Miya Atsumu/Sakusa Kiyoomi</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>45</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>SakuAtsu Fluff Week 2021</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The Way to a Man's Heart is Through His Stomach - red_camellia - Haikyuu!! [Archive of Our Own]</h2></a>
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    <p>
      <em>The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach.</em>
    </p>
    <p></p>
    <div class="userstuff">
      <p>- Osamu had always said that. Food was his way of expressing his love for his brother, the only way.</p>
      <p>Atsumu had grown so accustomed to his brother preparing breakfast and lunch boxes for him that he only realised how much it had meant when his brother had moved out and he was stuck eating 7/11 snacks and bentos. Mostly snacks because he still forgot that Osamu would not be there providing him with food and so he had to push through to an entire school day, put up with noisy kids all day on the few snacks, squashed on the bottom of his bag.</p>
      <p>Osamu had gotten transferred to another school and Atsumu had been quite glad at first. Their students had always compared the twins and the students probably didn’t know that they were fully aware of the ranking lists that were going around. Whom of them was the better teacher?</p>
      <p>Atsumu was pretty sure that he was the better twin, hence the better teacher and had been quite enraged to find that most students had liked Osamu better. But then again, there were a bunch of kids who hated P.E. and Atsumu was a P.E. teacher. Osamu was teaching Social Studies, which Atsumu thought boring and he was sure most students thought it was boring, too. But it provided better opportunities to goggle at a good-looking teacher, sleeping or not paying attention in general. P.E. was demanding, you couldn’t just slack off, especially not in Atsumu’s classes. He couldn’t stand those kids that did half-assed, pretend-jumping jacks when they thought he wasn’t looking.</p>
      <p> </p>
      <p>Today the students were even more distracted than usual, especially a group of six girls, who kept talking instead of properly stretching as they had been instructed to do.</p>
      <p>“Less chatting over there! You’ll get injured if you don’t stretch properly!” Atsumu called. The girls flinched.</p>
      <p>“What is going on with you guys today?” Atsumu asked.</p>
      <p>“There is a new teacher, Miya! Foreign languages teacher. He’ll be teaching English here, but I’ve heard he also teaches French. French! He spent some time abroad in France”, one of the girls immediately told him.</p>
      <p>Miya sighed. “He’s probably some old dude. No need to get excited”, he said and rolled his eyes.</p>
      <p>“Oh, no! We saw him earlier during the lunch break. He’s gorgeous!” another girl squealed.</p>
      <p>Miya grimaced. “Sure. Now let’s try and channel that excitement and energy into stretching, yeah?”</p>
      <p> </p>
      <p>Miya did not go to the teacher’s room at all, not for the lunch breaks or in the mornings. He only ever went there in emergency cases – like a class not showing up. It happened occasionally that a class was on a trip and he would wait around for them.</p>
      <p>So Miya had not met the new teacher yet. He vaguely remembered the principal saying something about a new teacher at the teacher’s conference at the start of the term but he had not paid attention. Atsumu didn’t really care. He did not mingle with the other teachers. And there was no reason to mingle with Foreign language teachers. In Atsumu’s experience they were either huge literature nerds or liked to think that their souls were American or British or whatever because once they had lived overseas they had connected sooo much to the other culture blablabla…</p>
      <p>French. Whoever thought of teaching French in Japan must be pretentious, Atsumu thought. One more reason not to mingle.</p>
      <p> </p>
      <p>The sun was setting when Atsumu closed the sports hall and yawned. He saw that one hall was still occupied by the volleyball club, but the captain was overly enthusiastic and would lock up after them.</p>
      <p>He crossed the school yard and saw the front door of the school open up and a tall man rushed out. He hurriedly pulled a mask over his face with an expression as if he had just seen something disgusting. Atsumu guessed that it was the new teacher because he had never seen him before. He was wearing a black suit and an elegant coat, which fit the Foreign Language teacher image.</p>
      <p>The man noticed Atsumu’s gaze and turned his head and their eyes met. Atsumu shortly nodded at him and then turned around to go home.</p>
      <p> </p>
      <p>Sakusa immediately put his mask on as soon as he stepped out of the building. He shuddered and tried to rid himself of the gross feeling of being besieged by twenty teenager girls bombarding him with overly personal questions. Becoming a teacher certainly was an odd choice for someone who hated crowds and noise. He hated sticky rooms and he had been caught in one for the last few hours. The feeling of having to breathe the air that had circulated through 30 other people’s mouths was horrendous. Nonetheless, Sakusa enjoyed the actual process of teaching. He loved languages and when he saw a student fall in love with a language, it was thrilling. Nothing was quite as rewarding as when a student finally understood the grammar he had been trying to teach them.</p>
      <p>He felt someone’s gaze on him as if someone had touched him. When he turned his head he saw a young man across the school yard. He was the P.E. teacher, the one with the bleached hair who was too cool for the teacher’s room. The one that the girls liked to look at sneakily from the windows instead of paying attention in class. But Sakusa thought that this teacher was probably to blame, because he <em>was</em> distracting. In the girls’ eyes he was distracting in a pleasant way, but in Sakusa’s eyes he was distracting in the most negative sense possible. He had bleached hair, which was technically against school rules, and he only ever wore his sports suit and often took off his jacket to reveal muscular arms underneath – as his students had gladly informed Sakusa. Sakusa was not a very social person either but at least he had taken the effort to introduce himself to all the teachers, except for this guy because he thought himself better than the rest.</p>
      <p> </p>
      <p>The next day, Sakusa was looking for a less crowded place for having lunch than the teacher’s room which was bursting full. He had a headache because he had been teaching the first years and they had been so loud. With a relieved sigh Sakusa stepped outside of the building, leaving a large portion of noise behind him, crossed the schoolyard and after hesitating for a brief second he sat down on the steps of one of the sport halls. He enjoyed his lunch in peace and quiet. With a quick glance at his watch he noted that the P.E teacher should turn up soon as well as the students, so he gathered his things and left. He was hardly a few steps from the sports hall when the P.E. teacher rushed over the school yard. His cheeks were flushed from running and his hair was messy. He didn’t even notice Sakusa as he rushed past him. Sakusa heard him curse quietly as he unlocked the sports hall and a very loud grumble of the guy’s stomach told him that he probably had overslept and had not eaten yet. Sakusa’s lips curled.</p>
      <p>How bad of a role model could one be? As a P.E. teacher!</p>
      <p>Since Sakusa took to having lunch outside, he often saw the P.E. teacher, Miya. They never spoke much, only greeted each other or nodded at each other. But Sakusa had the odd feeling that Miya was the only teacher here who did not judge him from wanting to be alone during breaks. After a few weeks the excitement of a new teacher had subdued and his students were already bored by the grammar they were supposed to study. Sakusa had watched Miya rush in late and hungry, or hurriedly eating snacks instead of proper meals in his breaks. Sakusa was not sure what issues Miya was having that he refused to simply buy a meal at the cafeteria or at the next 7/11 but he felt increasingly irritated by Miya.</p>
      <p>It was Sakusa’s second month at the new school when he bought two bentos at the train station on his way to school. This time he did not leave immediately after he had finished lunch next to the sports hall. He waited for Miya to turn up. Sakusa did not have to wait long because that day Miya was, for once, not late. Miya strolled nonchalantly across the school yard a few minutes later. He saw Sakusa standing in front of the sports hall and looked startled.</p>
      <p>“Oh, hi”, he said. He pushed his sports bag higher up his shoulder when Sakusa did not step aside. “Can I help you?” Miya asked, a frown now building up on his face. Sakusa pushed the bento into Miya’s hands.</p>
      <p>“What – what is this?” Miya asked puzzled, looking from the bento back at Sakusa.</p>
      <p>“You’re pathetic”.</p>
      <p>That was not what Sakusa had wanted to say originally but of all the words he had thought of saying only those had decided to come out.</p>
      <p>Miya stared at him. “Excuse me?”</p>
      <p>Sakusa’s breath hitched but thankfully he was wearing his mask and Miya probably could not tell.</p>
      <p>“You’re a P.E. teacher, aren’t you? Shouldn’t you take care of your body then? You should eat properly!” Sakusa snapped. “I couldn’t bear to watch you like this. You’re a terrible role model for the students!”</p>
      <p>And with that he walked off. As soon as he was back inside he buried his face in his hands that were shaking for some reason. Miya’s confused face was swimming in the back of his mind for the rest of the day.</p>
      <p> </p>
      <p>The next day Sakusa was surprised to find Miya already at the sports hall when he went there for his usual lunch break. “Sakusa, right?” Miya asked. Sakusa frowned.</p>
      <p>“Well, I would say thank you for yesterday’s lunch but I don’t want to”, Miya continued.</p>
      <p>“- Huh?”</p>
      <p>“You threw that box into my face while insulting me, so I don’t think it really deserves a thank you”.</p>
      <p>Sakusa pursed his lips. “Is that so? Well, you said ‘thank you’ twice already”.</p>
      <p>Miya blushed and then looked angry. “I –“. He gritted his teeth and pulled out a bag.</p>
      <p>“I bought one this time, so don’t you dare calling him pathetic again. You of all people who sneaks out and eats out here in front of my hall like a student who gets bullied in the cafeteria”.</p>
      <p>Sakusa raised his eyebrows.</p>
      <p>“Yeah, I’ve noticed that you always come here for lunch”, Miya said and shoved his chin forward.</p>
      <p>“I’m not being bullied in the teacher’s room”, Sakusa started.</p>
      <p>Miya scoffed. “So what is it then? Are you secretly hoping to run into me?” he asked and there was suddenly a sly grin on his lips. Sakusa flinched back.</p>
      <p>He glared at Miya. “You’re the last person anyone would hope to run into”, Sakusa said through gritted teeth.</p>
      <p>But he thought about Miya for the rest of the day, just like all the other days before but Miya’s words kept prodding and annoying him.</p>
      <p>Was he secretly hoping of running into him? Hadn’t he been secretly watching Miya the past months? Did he not quickly glance out of the window, too, when all the girls fawned over Miya’s exposed arms?</p>
      <p>Sakusa turned that possibility over in his head during the weekend but the thought of having a crush on Miya was just too terrible to be true. Crushes were for teenagers, not proper adults. He was a teacher, not one of the students, who fawned over Miya.</p>
      <p> </p>
      <p>*</p>
      <p> </p>
      <p>On Monday Sakusa went to school with the confidence that he did not have a crush on Miya but simply found him attractive. His confidence was shattered when he saw Miya during lunch break.</p>
      <p>Miya was rather strict with his students from what Sakusa overheard in his own classroom. That had actually come as a surprise, he had thought that Miya was the laid-back type, who didn’t really care, not about classes, not about the students or anything. After all he didn’t mingle with other teachers, and only came to school for his classes and left immediately after.</p>
      <p>So when Sakusa came to the sports hall for his usual lunch break and heard loud sobbing he peered through the open door and found a young boy crying and Miya comforting him.</p>
      <p>“You’re still young and growing. Your body heals a lot faster than an adult’s, so it is by no means the end for you. Just follow your doctor’s advice and rest. If you don’t rest, your body won’t heal at all”, Miya said.</p>
      <p>“I’ll miss the nationals!” the boy called through tears. “I worked so hard for this!”</p>
      <p>Miya nodded. “Yes, I know. But you’re a second year, you get another chance next year but only if you give your body the chance to heal. Now, continue to train your mind while your body rests”. He rummaged through his back and pushed a healthy cereal bar into the boy’s hands.</p>
      <p>“You got it, yeah?”</p>
      <p>The boy sniffed and nodded. Miya accompanied him to the door and both jumped when they saw Sakusa standing behind the door. The boy threw a furtive look up at Sakusa and then hurried off. Miya sighed and put his bag down. His stomach gave a loud grumble.</p>
      <p>“Let me guess, you haven’t bought any lunch and you gave that kid the only snack you had on you”, Sakusa said. Miya shrugged.</p>
      <p>“What about it?” he said grumpily.</p>
      <p>“Didn’t think you’d do something like that”, Sakusa murmured.</p>
      <p>“Like what?” Miya asked sharply.</p>
      <p>Sakusa shrugged. “Comforting a student, giving him the only food you have. That was – kind”.</p>
      <p>Miya frowned. “Just because you don’t want to interact with your students outside of class doesn’t mean all other teachers won’t do it either”, he said.</p>
      <p>Sakusa stared at Miya and felt a strange tingling sensation somewhere in his arms.</p>
      <p>“What?” Miya asked exasperated and ran with his hand through his hair. Which was unnecessary and made Sakusa feel like his stomach had suddenly dropped right through the ground.</p>
      <p>He hesitated and then opened his lunch bag. He pulled out the banana, he had bought for dessert and pushed it into Miya’s chest. Then he turned around and left to eat lunch as far away from the sports hall as possible.</p>
      <p> </p>
      <p>On Tuesday Sakusa took longer than usual to pick up his lunch bento at the shop because he pondered on whether getting one for Miya, too.</p>
      <p>Eventually he got two. When he went to the sports halls for lunch, Miya just arrived at the school gates. He spotted Sakusa on his way and waved and then rushed over.</p>
      <p>“Hi”, Miya said and flashed him a smile and Sakusa was glad he didn’t trip over it.</p>
      <p>His knees had suddenly gone weak at that smile. “Come in”, Miya said and unlocked the sports hall.</p>
      <p>“No, I prefer to eat outside”, Sakusa said tentatively.</p>
      <p>“Are you sure?” Miya said. “I’ve got a teacher’s room all to myself. There’s an actual table in there and chairs, you know”. Sakusa hesitated.</p>
      <p>“Fine”, he murmured.</p>
      <p>He followed Miya into the sports teacher’s room which turned out to be a cramped, small room that was gathering dust. Sakusa’s face contorted.</p>
      <p>“Might need to wipe down the table, hold on”, Miya said and rummaged through the closet at the wall.</p>
      <p>He pulled out a cloth that looked rather unsanitary and wiped the dust off the table. Sakusa glared at Miya and pulled out his own disinfectant spray and sprayed the table down. Miya coughed.</p>
      <p>“That – That’s strong”, Miya choked.</p>
      <p>“Otherwise it would be useless”, Sakusa said and went over the table with a clean tissue. Only then he put his bento boxes down.</p>
      <p>Miya looked surprised at the second box. “Very hungry today?” he asked.</p>
      <p>Wordlessly Sakusa shoved the box over the table towards Miya. Miya’s face lit up into a wonderful bright smile.</p>
      <p>“Thank you!”</p>
      <p>Sakusa abruptly looked away. He tried to ignore how fast his heart was beating, tried to forbid himself from thinking that Miya was beautiful.</p>
      <p>“Why are you not buying them yourself?” Sakusa asked after they had finished.</p>
      <p>“Ah, I just forget, don’t I?” Miya murmured.</p>
      <p>“How can you forget about getting food when you’re hungry?” Sakusa asked in disbelief. Miya shrugged.</p>
      <p> </p>
      <p>Somehow this turned into a routine within days. Sakusa bought two bentos every morning and they would have lunch together in the sports hall. Sakusa had not commented much on it but the very next day after they’ve had lunch together, Miya took Sakusa to the sports teacher’s room again and it was spotless. It seemed like Miya had cleaned it from top to bottom. There was even a tissue box and a hand disinfectant on the table. Sakusa was confused over how easily Miya had picked up on that.</p>
      <p>“You looked uncomfortable last time”, Miya said. Again seeming to read his mind. Miya smiled and Sakusa looked at Miya’s lips and wondered what it would feel like to kiss him.</p>
      <p>But this was a high school so nothing stayed nice and secret. Just a week after they had started to eat lunch together, Sakusa noticed students looking at him differently and whisper in the corridors. At first he had thought that he was just imaging things as one did when one had a secret. But then students started to grow bolder and Sakusa who was still so scared of his own feelings that he did not even wanted to name them, was caught off guard in the first period English with his third year students.</p>
      <p>They were revising tenses.</p>
      <p>“Murata. When do we use the simple present?”</p>
      <p>– “For things that happen every day, habits and facts”.</p>
      <p>Sakusa nodded. “Can you give me an example sentence?”</p>
      <p>The student standing made a strange face.</p>
      <p>“Sakusa and Miya have lunch together everyday”.</p>
      <p>A few girls started giggling and Murata grinned cheekily. Sakusa glared at him and the grin faded very quickly of the boy’s face.</p>
      <p>“Sit down”, Sakusa said. His voice sounded icy.</p>
      <p>The silence that fell was ringing. “But it was correct, was it not?” someone asked. Sakusa’s head whipped around.</p>
      <p>“The sentence was correct. The grammar, I mean”. It was the overachieving girl in the first row. She didn’t seem to care for the meaning of the sentence. Sakusa just looked at her for a long second.</p>
      <p>“The grammar was correct”, he finally said.</p>
      <p> </p>
      <p>Sakusa was confused and angry after that lesson but he wasn’t sure why. It was true after all. He did have lunch with Miya every day and there was nothing wrong with that. No one had implied anything. But Sakusa feared that rumours would spring from that. He feared that someone could figure out how his feelings for Miya had begun to spin out of control. He didn’t want anyone barge in on the sweet moments he had with Miya alone during lunch. He didn’t want it spoiled by some kids who would make nasty jokes about it. It. His feelings. That he liked being with Miya. That he liked looking at Miya. That he actually liked his stupid, stupid dialect. That he loved the way he laughed. That he dreamt of kissing Miya.</p>
      <p>He was terrified of getting exposed before he had had even the chance to acknowledge or accept his own feelings. And above all, he did not want Miya to know. Miya could never know that Sakusa thought that way about him.</p>
      <p>He was anxious when lunchtime came that day. He escaped the teacher’s room where he thought every gaze and look meant that everyone knew – although realistically, he knew that he was only imagining things. Miya was already waiting for him in front of the sports hall.</p>
      <p>“Are you alright?” Miya asked and his smile faltered. “You look stressed”. His hand brushed over Sakusa’s arm who pulled it back abruptly.</p>
      <p>“Right, no touching. Sorry”, Miya said and laughed apologetic.</p>
      <p>They went inside and just by sitting next to Miya, although he was the origin for his anxiety, Sakusa felt how he calmed down.</p>
      <p>“Omi”. He jumped.</p>
      <p>“I told you not to call me like that”, Sakusa said sharply. Miya smiled. “But I want to”.</p>
      <p>Sakusa had to look away, he could not hold Miya’s gaze. He was scared that Miya would be able to tell if they looked at each other for too long.</p>
      <p>“You can talk to me, you know that”, Miya said gently.</p>
      <p>“Yes”, Sakusa said immediately. “Yes… I know that”. He slowly turned his head. Miya had leaned closer and Sakusa involuntarily held his breath.</p>
      <p>“Sometimes students can be horrible. Don’t take it personal, they’re teenagers and take their frustrations out on you. Whatever. They don’t really mean any harm. Tomorrow they’re back to normal, you'll see”, Miya said. “What?” Sakusa asked, feeling light headed from holding his breath.</p>
      <p>“Oh, because you’re making a face like a student said something mean to you”, Miya said. “It happens. Quite a lot actually”.</p>
      <p>He shrugged. Then he rested his hand on Sakusa’s arm and his thumb gently caressed his underarm. Sakusa felt like he was falling apart from the spot that Miya touched. He closed his eyes and heard his own shaky breath. Don’t give yourself away.</p>
      <p>“Sorry”. Miya said and pulled his hand away.</p>
      <p>Sakusa could still feel the ghost of Miya’s hand and he wished that Miya would try again and again because he had no words to ask him for that and too much pride to do so even if he had the words.  </p>
      <p> </p>
      <p>The last hot days of autumn were washed away by stormy typhoon weather and it got colder at long last. The leaves turned red and golden and Sakusa’s ride to school was lined with beautiful autumn colours. When he walked to the sports halls where Miya was already waiting for him, his blonde hair gleamed like the golden gingko trees around them.</p>
      <p>After that one incident in the English class no one had yet dared to comment on his meeting with Miya again, but Sakusa overheard students gossiping in the corridors all the time. In the first week of November he walked through the corridors during afternoon lessons to check that the students weren’t fooling around. He heard his name and Miya’s name and froze. The voices were close, the students were probably in their classroom with the door still open.</p>
      <p>“I saw him. He actually bought two bentos at the station this morning”.</p>
      <p>“Well, I say that definitely makes it more of a friendship thing for me, Sato. If he had made them himself then I’d agree that they’re dating”.</p>
      <p>“Oh rubbish, they are so dating”.</p>
      <p>“Are you still on about that, not everything is a BL manga! Maybe they’re just good friends!”</p>
      <p>“Yeah, right. Their personalities are literally the exact opposite of each other. They are definitely NOT friends!”</p>
      <p>“How on earth does that then mean that they are dating?”</p>
      <p>“Sakusa got so angry over Murata implying something a few weeks ago so –“</p>
      <p>“He got angry because there is nothing and it was rude to imply anything at all”.</p>
      <p>Someone gasped. “WHAT? Don’t scare me like that, damn you! I thought Sakusa was behind us!”</p>
      <p>Sakusa was somewhat behind them but around the corner, and yet he did not step out into the corridor. He stood there rooted on the spot, clutching his books to his chest and his hand cramped around his bag.</p>
      <p>“No, I think I figured it out!”</p>
      <p>– “What is there to figure out?”</p>
      <p>“No, no, no, listen. What if Sakusa has a crush on Miya, I mean I get it – he is so hot, but there really is nothing going on. And he got all jumpy because he doesn’t want Miya to figure it out!”</p>
      <p>Silence fell as the group considered that option. “Yeah, I mean… Sakusa is the one always going to the sports halls and buying the lunch. Urgh, imagine that if it was unrequited love after all. Shit, that would suck so hard!”</p>
      <p>“Well, Sakusa is good looking, too, why would Miya not end up falling for him?”</p>
      <p>Someone scoffed. “Probably because Miya isn’t gay and Sakusa isn’t either. Miya was flirting real hard with the school nurse last year, didn’t he?”</p>
      <p>“Yeah but did they end up dating?”</p>
      <p>“Dunno, she left, didn’t she?”</p>
      <p>Sakusa walked around the corner, he could not stand one more second of this conversation. He wasn’t sure why he had waited this long. There was a group of 4 girls and two boys sitting on the floor in front of the classroom with buckets, mops and a broom scattered around them.</p>
      <p>“What are you sitting on the floor around for?” Sakusa asked. They all jumped.</p>
      <p>“Cleaning duty!” one of the girls almost shouted in panic.</p>
      <p>“It doesn’t look like you’re cleaning”, Sakusa said sharply.</p>
      <p> </p>
      <p>When Sakusa left the school building two hours later, he was still in a bad mood. He didn’t want to think too much about the whole affair. He didn’t want to ponder on whether Miya was into men and then how Miya could ever, ever fall in love with someone like him.</p>
      <p>“Hey! Omi!”</p>
      <p>He looked up and saw Miya standing by the school gates. He waved at Sakusa. Once Sakusa had gotten close enough Miya flashed him a bright smile. He was wearing a leather jacket over his sports clothes which would probably look ridiculous on anyone but him.</p>
      <p>“What?” Sakusa asked, sounding rougher than intended.</p>
      <p>“Well, I waited for you to finish up”, Miya said startled.</p>
      <p>“What for? I can find the train station by myself”, Sakusa snapped and left Miya standing at the school gates looking confused.</p>
      <p>But he didn’t want to give the students more reason to gossip. He couldn’t bear the thought that they were right and they would bask in his unrequited love for Miya, because why would Miya ever like him back?</p>
      <p>The next morning he purposefully did not buy two lunches and considered eating lunch in the teacher’s room. But he had barely sat down for lunch when he realised that it was a bad idea.</p>
      <p>“Huh, are you eating here? That is rare, Sakusa”, one teacher called. Another one patted him on the back. “Good to see you!”</p>
      <p>Everyone was chatting and laughing and their voices seemed amplified tenfold. Sakusa almost pressed his hands over his ears. He could feel his legs bouncing nervously and sweat form on his hands. He grabbed his lunch and stormed out. The air was nice and crisp outside. A gentle breeze made his locks dance out of his forehead. For a few moments he just stood by the door and breathed in the fresh air until he had calmed down. He hesitated and then walked over to the sports hall. Miya was not waiting in front of any of the halls. So Sakusa sat down on the stairs and began eating there in blissful solitude. He was almost finished when the door opened behind him with a loud squeak.</p>
      <p>“Hey, you can’t sit there – oh”.</p>
      <p>Sakusa turned around and stared up into Miya’s face.</p>
      <p>“Why didn’t you come inside?” Miya asked. Sakusa said nothing. “Are you still mad at me?” Miya asked further.</p>
      <p>He squatted down next to Sakusa and his knee bumped into Sakusa’s arm. “Although – I don’t know what I did wrong”.</p>
      <p>Sakusa turned his head and flinched back because he had not expected Miya to be so close to him. “You – you didn’t do anything wrong”, Sakusa said stiffly.</p>
      <p>“Then come inside”, Miya said.</p>
      <p>“The lunch break is almost over”, Sakusa retorted. Miya tilted his head.</p>
      <p>“Well, lucky that I had my own lunch with me today”, he said and laughed. Sakusa’s eyes fell on a cloth bag that Miya was holding. Definitely something you’d only wrap homemade bento in.</p>
      <p>“You made yourself a bento?” he asked surprised.</p>
      <p>“What? No, Osamu visited me over the weekend and made me some. Just like old times”, Miya said and laughed.</p>
      <p>“What?” Sakusa asked blankly. A sudden gust of wind tousled their hair and Miya was still grinning brightly.</p>
      <p>“Osamu used to make me breakfast and lunch all the time, but he got transferred to another school this term so he moved out. Well, I was so used to him doing it for me that I just kept forgetting, you know. I thought I’d be glad that I finally got to live on my own, we’ve been together since the beginning of time so – man, it was nice to get a breather from this annoying guy. But he really is the best cook in the world. Don’t tell him, I said that. He’ll get all high and mighty about it”, Miya babbled on.</p>
      <p>And Sakusa just tried to not let his face show that his heart shattered into a million pieces.</p>
      <p>He could not believe that Miya was in a relationship with a guy since forever from what it sounded. He even spoke about it so lightly as if he feared no judgement, almost as if he had expected Sakusa to know already.</p>
      <p>“Omi?”</p>
      <p>He snapped out of his negative mind spiral. Miya was really close, so close he could see the bright coloured leaves around them reflect in his brown eyes. How could he look at Sakusa like that if his heart was with someone else?</p>
      <p>“I – I was wondering if”, Miya started. His voice was trembling slightly as if he was nervous. Sakusa abruptly stood up and Miya flinched back so he lost his balance in his squat and fell over. “I’ve got to go back to classes”, Sakusa said and hurried away.</p>
      <p> </p>
      <p>From then on it was different to spend his lunches with Miya. It was impossible that Sakusa was imagining things but why would Miya look at him like that? Why did he always sit closer than necessary? Why did he often brush their arms together as if he was dying to touch Sakusa but hardly dared more than that? How could Miya make him fall in love even harder, how could he do that, if it was all in vain anyway?</p>
      <p>But Sakusa was to blame equally. Why did he still come to have lunch with Miya? He could have simply cut him off. But instead he returned to this little room, kept buying him lunch and let him talk, even if he occasionally mentioned Osamu. Eventually they even exchanged phone numbers. Miya texted him pictures of dogs as soon as he found out that Sakusa liked dogs. And sometimes Miya would add comments to the pictures, which made Sakusa glad that Miya wasn’t around to see his reaction. To the picture of a black shiba that looked extraordinarily grumpy Miya had added:</p>
      <p>“This one made me think of you, had to snap a picture and sent it to you…”</p>
      <p>What was Miya thinking, saying stuff like that?</p>
      <p> </p>
      <p> </p>
      <p> </p>
      <p>The day before winter break, they sat in the sports teacher’s room after classes. Miya had texted him to come over and he had made tea for them. Sakusa was sipping on the hot beverage while Miya was serving biscuits that Osamu had made and Sakusa wanted to choke and die on his tea rather than eat them.</p>
      <p>“I was thinking of going home over New Year but it is such a long train ride and just for the few free days, urgh –“, Miya complained but was cut off by Sakusa’s yelp.</p>
      <p>“WHAT?” Miya called. Sakusa had scooted across the bench he was sitting on and their shoulders had collided.</p>
      <p>Miya’s eyes followed Sakusa’s and spotted the cockroach on the floor near Sakusa. “Okay stay still. I’ll get it”, Miya said. “Uhm… I need to…”.</p>
      <p>Sakusa froze when he felt Miya’s hand on his shoulder. “I’ve got to – sorry – I need to climb over you”, Miya murmured as he carefully swung his leg over Sakusa’s.</p>
      <p>Sakusa suddenly found himself trapped between Miya’s arms with Miya sitting in his lap. Miya looked up and their eyes met. Sakusa held his breath and he could feel his heart beating so fast and hard in his throat he was glad that he was wearing a scarf, otherwise he was sure, Miya would have seen it. Miya looked confused as if he had forgotten how he had gotten into this position. Sakusa’s eyes widened when Miya suddenly leaned forward and their noses almost touched. Then he realised that Miya had only pulled himself over Sakusa’s legs and climbed down from the bench. Miya swiftly killed the cockroach and brought it outside for good measure. As soon as the door fell shut behind Miya, Sakusa let out the breath he was still holding. He did not hear Miya curse under his breath while he walked outside.</p>
      <p>“Shit, shit, shit, shit! What am I doing?” Miya whispered.</p>
      <p>The new year began and as it had gotten really cold, Miya actually started to wear proper clothes and only changed into his track suits right before class. So Sakusa had to put up with Miya in tight trousers that revealed very muscular and broad thighs. It was the first week after the winter break and they were sitting in the cold sports teacher’s room for lunch. “Here”, Miya murmured and put a bottle of hand cream on the table. It was the same brand that Sakusa used.</p>
      <p>“The air is so dry, it gets the fingertips all –“, Miya said and rubbed his fingertips with a disgruntled expression. “Well, you always take care of my lunch. At least let me do a little in return, will you?” Miya said when Sakusa did not take the bottle.</p>
      <p>“Okay”, Sakusa murmured and took it.</p>
      <p>“See you after classes?” Miya asked when Sakusa stood up. “Yeah”. Miya smiled, he looked strangely nervous.</p>
      <p>Sakusa had his 3<sup>rd</sup> years again and as the college entrance examinations were coming up all of them were on edge. He was looking through the sentences his students had turned in to revise their grammar. His hands clenched and he could feel that his students were watching him.</p>
      <p>“Miya likes to look at Sakusa”.</p>
      <p>“Sakusa always buys lunch for Miya”.</p>
      <p>“Sakusa and Miya have started eating lunch together in September”.</p>
      <p>“Miya and Sakusa look nice together”.</p>
      <p>“Sakusa looks happy when he sees Miya in the school yard”.</p>
      <p>“I hope Sakusa and Miya will go out!”</p>
      <p>He looked up and opened his mouth, but he didn’t know what to say. He cleared his throat. He had always thought that his students were making fun of him or that they would gossip behind his back. But instead they were rooting for him and Miya. What an odd feeling.</p>
      <p>January was over in the blink of an eye with all the examination stress going on, it was already February before Sakusa knew it. He was reminded by every shop and all the girls in class that Valentine’s Day was approaching. He saw the girls exchange recipes and talk about confessing. Sakusa was glad that Valentine’s Day fell on a Sunday, he didn’t like being in school when all the confessing was going down.</p>
      <p>It was awkward when his students would approach him and he would have to somehow reject them without being too mean about it. At his old school a colleague had confessed to him which had been especially awkward. But above all Sakusa was glad that he did not have to buy or receive any obligatory chocolate as it was often commonplace to hand out to colleagues. The thought of receiving friendship chocolate from Miya was just too much to handle.</p>
      <p>It was Saturday late in the evening and he was just about to get into bed when his phone vibrated and announced a text from Miya.</p>
      <p>“Are you free tomorrow?”</p>
      <p>Sakusa hesitated.</p>
      <p>“Why?” he texted back. Miya took forever to write back, he kept typing and deleting what he was writing. Finally a text popped up.</p>
      <p>“Would you like to come over for a bit?”</p>
      <p>Sakusa’s heart skipped a beat. It was the first time that Miya suggested meeting outside of school. But no, wouldn’t Miya spend the day with his boyfriend?</p>
      <p>“Don’t you have plans already?” Sakusa wrote back.</p>
      <p>“No. That’s why I’m asking you”</p>
      <p>Sakusa put his phone down and stared up at the ceiling. Could Miya have broken up with his boyfriend? But the idea of having to spend Valentine’s Day with Miya to comfort him over a breakup sounded terribly pathetic.</p>
      <p>He yelped when his phone suddenly began to vibrate in his hand. Miya was calling him!</p>
      <p>He stared at the screen for a shocked second and then picked up. “What are you calling me for?” Sakusa said instead of hello.</p>
      <p>“Uh”, Miya sounded nervous.</p>
      <p>“Well, it’s important so please come, okay? I don’t want to – I can’t talk about this at school”, Miya said. “Oh”, Sakusa murmured.</p>
      <p>“Well, we can talk about it now”, he added and thought in case that Miya wanted to tell him about his breakup, at least it would be easier on the phone.</p>
      <p>“No, that – I have to talk to you in person”, Miya said.</p>
      <p>Sakusa frowned. “Fine”, he sighed then.</p>
      <p>“Okay, thank you. I’ll text you the address. Is afternoon, okay? Like 2 PM?” Miya said.</p>
      <p>“Yeah, fine”, Sakusa said and hung up.</p>
      <p>He received a text from Miya with the address and a description of how to get there from the next train station because it was quite a long walk. Sakusa could not sleep. He spent the entire night wondering what Miya had to tell him that was so important that it had to be done in person outside of school.</p>
      <p>He arrived punctually at 2 PM at Miya’s apartment and anxiously stared at the name plate. He only realised now that he would probably see traces of the love life that he would never have with Miya. Traces of that faceless lover who was so great at cooking and baking.</p>
      <p>He fought with himself and then finally rang the doorbell. He stood there with his heart thundering in his chest and waited for the door to be opened. Then finally the door was pulled open and Miya stood in front of him.</p>
      <p>“Hi”. Sakusa’s hands tensed in the pockets of his coat and he was glad that his mask covered that he was pressing his lips tightly shut.</p>
      <p>“Come in”, Miya said and stepped aside.</p>
      <p>He gave Sakusa slippers and took his coat. Miya was unusually quiet and anxious. Sakusa could not help but to glance around as Miya led him into the living room. It was surprisingly tidy, he had always imagined Miya to be a messy person.</p>
      <p>“Uhm, do you want something to drink?” Miya asked, his voice was shaky.</p>
      <p>“No, thanks. I’m good”, Sakusa said. “So what’s so important?”</p>
      <p>Miya looked startled that Sakusa would address the issue so quickly. “Ah right. Uhm”, he stuttered.</p>
      <p>He fidgeted with his fingers. Then he walked over to the book shelves and took something down from there. “I – I don’t know how to say this. But you – you probably have guessed it already. I mean I - ”, Miya murmured and turned around.</p>
      <p>Sakusa frowned and jumped surprised when Miya suddenly reached out his hands and he saw that he was holding a nicely wrapped gift in his hands. Miya pressed it into Sakusa’s hands.</p>
      <p>“What – what is this?” Sakusa asked. Miya did not look at him.</p>
      <p>“Chocolate, obviously”, he murmured.</p>
      <p>“But – this looks homemade”, Sakusa said startled.</p>
      <p>This was not at all what he had expected. “Well, it is”, Miya murmured. He started rubbing his right arm nervously.</p>
      <p>“It’s not – obligatory chocolate is it?” Sakusa said and stared at the nice chocolates in his hand.</p>
      <p>He looked up when Miya didn’t answer. Miya’s face was flushed and he looked down. It was unfair that he looked so pretty, that this should happen when Sakusa could not have him.</p>
      <p>“It’s not”, Miya whispered.</p>
      <p>Anger came to Sakusa’s aid and washed over the confusion. “I can’t take these”, he said and his voice sounded firm. Miya closed his eyes but he said nothing.</p>
      <p>“I mean, how – how could you even ask me?” it burst out of Sakusa. “I mean you have a boyfriend. Why would you -?” but before he could continue Miya interrupted him.</p>
      <p>“I have a what?”</p>
      <p>Sakusa looked back at Miya. A tear fell from Miya’s lashes. “A boyfriend”, Sakusa said weakly.</p>
      <p>Why was Miya crying? Another tear rolled over Miya’s face.</p>
      <p>“Who the hell said that? Who the hell is saying that?” he asked and his voice slipped.</p>
      <p>“You did!” Sakusa called. “All that talking about Osamu –“.</p>
      <p>Miya let out such an angry and loud groan and stomped his foot that Sakusa took a step back.</p>
      <p>“Osamu is my brother!” Miya almost shouted. Tears fell rapidly from his face to the floor.</p>
      <p>“Oh”.</p>
      <p>Sakusa stood there dumbfounded while Miya sobbed.</p>
      <p>“God, what a mess”, Sakusa murmured and covered his eyes because he wanted the world to disappear. He pulled his hand back when he heard a door falling shut. Miya was gone. But then a second later he heard water running so Miya must have run to the bathroom. Hesitantly Sakusa followed him and knocked on the door.</p>
      <p>“Miya”.</p>
      <p>A few moments later the water stopped running and the door flew open. Miya had tried to wash his face, his hair was wet and water droplets were handing in his bangs like tears on his eyelashes.</p>
      <p>Sakusa wished he could ask Miya to try again but he did not know how to ask that. He did not know what he could say at all to fix this weird situation. Miya had always tried again, but now he looked like he had fully given up. So Sakusa did the only thing he could think of and cupped Miya’s face and kissed him.</p>
      <p>When he let go off Miya, he heard a tiny sound escape from Miya’s lips and Miya looked like he was about to cry again. Sakusa slowly let go off Miya’s face but Miya reached for his wrists. “Does that mean you’ll accept the chocolate?” he asked.</p>
      <p>“I don’t really eat sweets”, Sakusa said. Miya’s lips twitched. “Noted”, he whispered and stepped closer.</p>
      <p>“Can I have a kiss without the mask?” he asked. Sakusa frowned but when Miya reached up and slowly pulled the mask from his ears he lowered his head and let it happen.</p>
      <p>His curls met Miya’s forehead when Miya tiptoed and kissed him.</p>
      <p> </p>
      <p>*</p>
      <p> </p>
      <p>Sakusa sat up abruptly and looked around in the semi-darkness. It was some time before sunrise. He was definitely not at home in his own bed. In fact he was not even in a bed, he was lying on a sofa bed. He found his phone next to his pillow and saw that it was 4 am. With a sigh he dropped back into the pillow and looked up at the ceiling of Miya’s living room.</p>
      <p>After that messy confession, they had decided to make dinner together and somehow it had gotten late. And in truth, Sakusa had not wanted to go home. It was too nice to finally be allowed to have what he wanted. He was allowed to hold Miya, he was allowed to look at him and kiss him.</p>
      <p>“You surprise me every day, you know”, Miya had whispered when Sakusa had put his arm around Miya while they had been watching a movie.</p>
      <p>“How so?” Sakusa had asked.</p>
      <p>“You’re very touchy for someone who doesn’t like physical contact”, Miya had said. Sakusa had pulled his arm back at that but Miya had stopped him and sat in his lap.</p>
      <p>“I can’t see the screen like this”, Sakusa had said drily.</p>
      <p>He had scolded Miya for moving too fast but he could not blame him after months of craving all of this, he was just as eager to kiss Miya and he could not get enough of it. The movie was long forgotten and they had kissed on the sofa until it had gotten dark. But everything beyond that would have been too much and so Sakusa had insisted on sleeping in separate beds. Which ended with him taking the sofa in the living room.</p>
      <p>He sat up and swung his legs out of bed. It was freezing cold in the living room. Sakusa hurried into the bathroom but on his way back he paused and then peered through the bedroom door that was standing ajar. Miya had clearly only intended for Sakusa to only see the living room because all the mess that Sakusa had expected to be in this apartment was in the bedroom. Miya was sound asleep. Sakusa hesitated and then went back to the cold living room and slipped under his blanket. What a stupid thought! Where was his head? He couldn’t just slip into Miya’s bed, especially not after he himself had insisted on sleeping separately.</p>
      <p>He rolled around, trying to fall asleep again but time crept by slowly and sleep would not come. It was 4:30 am when Miya’s bedroom door opened fully and Miya slipped out. Sakusa turned his head and saw Miya hushing through the living room. “What’s wrong?” Sakusa asked into the darkness and Miya let out a muffled scream.</p>
      <p>“You nearly gave me a heart attack! You’re awake?” Miya whispered.</p>
      <p>“No, I’m not”, Sakusa muttered. Miya came over to the sofa.</p>
      <p>“Can I – Can I join you?” he whispered.</p>
      <p>Sakusa lifted the blanket and Miya slipped next to him. “I dreamt that it had all just been a dream. But it wasn’t, was it?” Miya whispered.</p>
      <p>“What?” Sakusa murmured.</p>
      <p>“It was not a dream that we kissed earlier?” Miya asked and slid closer. Sakusa hummed vaguely.</p>
      <p>“Can we cuddle, please?” Miya whispered.</p>
      <p>Sakusa who had secretly wished for this, opened his arms and Miya snuggled into his chest. Seconds later Sakusa’s eyes had fallen shut and he drifted into a pleasant dream.</p>
      <p>Unfortunately, his wonderful dream in which he and Miya were living together, was interrupted rather harshly by a loud alarm going off.</p>
      <p>“Shit, shit, shit!”</p>
      <p>Sakusa blinked and groaned as he was blinded by the bright sun.</p>
      <p>“What’s going on?” Sakusa murmured.</p>
      <p>“We’re late!” Miya called. “It’s 7 am!”</p>
      <p>Sakusa sat up abruptly. “WHAT?”</p>
      <p>They hurriedly got dressed, Sakusa had to wear his clothes from the day before which he was most unhappy with. He always wore a suit to school and now he would turn up in a damn sweater and jeans. He might have as well worn a sign around neck that he had slept over at someone else’s house.</p>
      <p>“I haven’t got my bag or any of my materials!” Sakusa called stressed. “I need to go home!”</p>
      <p>Miya groaned. “Oh damn, really?”</p>
      <p>Sakusa glared at him. “Really! In contrast to you I actually teach something that requires me to prepare lessons and have material ready!”</p>
      <p>“I prepare my lessons as well! Don’t get pretentious now!” Miya shouted as they rushed out of the apartment complex. “Go home, I’ll cover for you”, Miya said as they reached the train station.</p>
      <p>“What?” Sakusa asked perplex.</p>
      <p>“I’ll tell them – that you’re … that there was an emergency or something”, Miya said. “So you can go home and get your stuff”.</p>
      <p>They squeezed onto the train. Sakusa looked away. They were both out of breath and the morning train was bursting with people. Sakusa wished he could hold his breath but his sides were hurting from running. He felt Miya shift and then he was suddenly pushed gently against the train door. He looked up and saw that Miya had shifted so that Sakusa was not surrounded by people anymore but just had the door at his back and Miya in front of him. Sakusa opened his mouth but Miya smiled at him.</p>
      <p>The train was so full that no one would notice so Sakusa hesitantly brushed his hand against Miya’s. Miya looked up surprised. He leaned closer than he already was and Sakusa fought down the urge to bury his head in Miya’s shoulder. So he just stared at the crook of Miya’s neck and imagined how he would lean into Miya. The scent of laundry detergent rising into his nose, feeling the warmth of his skin and forget the loud world around him.</p>
      <p>“What do I say? Family emergency?” Miya asked quietly as Sakusa’s stop came up.</p>
      <p>“Yeah. Thanks”, Sakusa muttered.</p>
      <p>They both leaned in but remembered that they were in public, so they just looked at each other. The doors opened and both of them were pushed out. Miya stayed close to Sakusa as they fought their way through the crowd and then there was the high beeping of the doors closing and the train took off. But they were both standing on the platform.</p>
      <p>“So much for our plan”, Miya said defeated. Sakusa pursed his lips. “Did you do that on purpose?”</p>
      <p>Miya frowned. “Why would I? Now I have to come up with an excuse, too!”</p>
      <p>They hurried to Sakusa’s apartment which was luckily close to the train station. “Wait outside”, Sakusa instructed him.</p>
      <p>“What?” Miya asked disappointed.</p>
      <p>“There’s no time for a sightseeing tour of my apartment now”, Sakusa cut him off and hurried inside. 5 minutes later he returned properly dressed and with his bag.</p>
      <p>“I called the school”, Miya said waving with his phone. “What did you tell them?” Sakusa asked as they rushed back to the school. Miya’s face reddened.</p>
      <p>“I – hurry, the train is coming”, he said and pulled on his arm.</p>
      <p>“Miya!” Sakusa called.</p>
      <p>“Listen, we’re dating now. Can’t you call me by my first name?” Miya asked as they squeezed onto the train.</p>
      <p>Sakusa frowned. The doors closed and Miya leaned in close. His lips brushed against Sakusa’s cheek.</p>
      <p>“It’s Atsumu”, he said quietly.</p>
      <p>Neither of them said another word, but they remained in this position. Their cheeks almost touching, Sakusa’s eyes fixed on Atsumu’s shoulder while their hands intertwined hidden in the pockets of Sakusa’s coat.</p>
      <p>When their stop came up, Sakusa let go off Atsumu’s hands and turned his head. “Don’t get lost now!”</p>
      <p>He felt Atsumu’s hand holding onto the back of his coat as they were swept out onto the platform.</p>
      <p>“You know, we can’t – we have to stay professional once we’re at the school”, Sakusa said as they neared the school. “Miya”.</p>
      <p>A line appeared between Atsumu’s brows and he did not let go off Sakusa’s coat although they were in the middle of the street and there weren’t that many people around anymore.</p>
      <p>Sakusa gently freed himself from Atsumu’s grip and they stopped at the school gate. “I’ll see you at lunch”, Sakusa said.</p>
      <p>“But we haven’t bought anything for lunch”, Atsumu said.</p>
      <p>Sakusa sighed. “Yeah, I wonder why. Let’s just buy something later then”, he said. Atsumu nodded and turned around to head to the sports halls.</p>
      <p>“Atsumu?”</p>
      <p>He whirled around, the dark look was wiped off his face. “Yeah?”</p>
      <p>Sakusa took off his mask and stored it in his bag. “Are you gonna kiss me goodbye?” Atsumu asked quietly. Sakusa raised his eyebrows.</p>
      <p>“I just said something about being professional”, he said.</p>
      <p>Sakusa glanced up at the school building. “Later”, he said and squeezed Atsumu’s arm lightly.</p>
      <p>“I’ll get the kiss later?” Atsumu asked as Sakusa walked off. “Will I?”</p>
      <p>But Sakusa did not reply and inside the teacher’s room on the second floor the Geography teacher turned away from the window.</p>
      <p>“Well, looks like you’re not going to win the bet after all”, she said to the History teacher. “I knew it, Sakusa is way too professional and uptight to make out in the schoolyard”.</p>
      <p>He laughed. “BUT I told you that they would end up dating. And it looks like they definitely spent the night together, so I do win the bet. That’s my next lunch on you”, he said.</p>
      <p>“Fine”, she sighed. “I can’t believe you even got the principal to participate in this bet… I wonder what the students bet on”.</p>
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      <h3 class="heading">Notes:</h3>
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      <p></p>
      <blockquote class="userstuff">
        <p>I hope you enjoyed this! It was a real challenge for me to write something fluff-only. I hope the little pining moments and misunderstandings weren't too angsty~</p>
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